Title of Presentation: Bringing Videogames into the Classroom: What we can learn from games
Description: Students spend a lot of time with videogames. What can we learn from games that will help our jobs as educators and instructors? I have selected eight features of videogames that have potential for use in the classroom. I will facilitate an activity around discussing the pro's and con's of these features, ending on implications and ideas for implementation. The goal is to try to understand how a game is able to foster deep engagement and long-term motivation, and how this can be ported over for use in an educational setting. Because most of my work is based around language learning, we will be using that as a starting point.
Update: Attached notes explaining in more depth the concepts introduced during the workshop:
Description: Students spend a lot of time with videogames. What can we learn from games that will help our jobs as educators and instructors? For part one of my workshop, I want to start a discussion by examining the positive value of different genres of games (whether it's a MMORPG or a first-person shooter). The goal is to try to understand how a game is able to foster deep engagement and long-term motivation, and how this can be ported over for use in an educational setting. Because most of my work is based around language learning, we will be using that as a starting point.
For the second part of my workshop, I want to bring attendees into a 3D online language school that we are building. The question I want to answer here is, what does a lesson plan look like in a 3D gaming environment? I wish to explore, with the help of everyone in the room, how we might be able to construct non-linear lesson plans or how we might be able to create a deeper relationship between class time and homework time. For this section, we hope to have each attendee set up with a laptop, and wandering around our world independently. The environment will be pre-populated with props and tools to stimulate the discussion. We will also share some best practices from our own venture in building an online Mandarin-learning school.
Description: Students spend a lot of time with videogames. What can we learn from games that will help our jobs as educators and instructors? I have selected eight features of videogames that have potential for use in the classroom. I will facilitate an activity around discussing the pro's and con's of these features, ending on implications and ideas for implementation. The goal is to try to understand how a game is able to foster deep engagement and long-term motivation, and how this can be ported over for use in an educational setting. Because most of my work is based around language learning, we will be using that as a starting point.
Update: Attached notes explaining in more depth the concepts introduced during the workshop:
Description: Students spend a lot of time with videogames. What can we learn from games that will help our jobs as educators and instructors? For part one of my workshop, I want to start a discussion by examining the positive value of different genres of games (whether it's a MMORPG or a first-person shooter). The goal is to try to understand how a game is able to foster deep engagement and long-term motivation, and how this can be ported over for use in an educational setting. Because most of my work is based around language learning, we will be using that as a starting point.
For the second part of my workshop, I want to bring attendees into a 3D online language school that we are building. The question I want to answer here is, what does a lesson plan look like in a 3D gaming environment? I wish to explore, with the help of everyone in the room, how we might be able to construct non-linear lesson plans or how we might be able to create a deeper relationship between class time and homework time. For this section, we hope to have each attendee set up with a laptop, and wandering around our world independently. The environment will be pre-populated with props and tools to stimulate the discussion. We will also share some best practices from our own venture in building an online Mandarin-learning school.